MELBOURNE: A new study has found a link between ultra-processed foods and more than 30 health problems. These problems include depression, sleep disturbances, and cardiovascular disease, which are linked to death.
According to Dr. Melissa Lane, associate research fellow at Deakin University in Australia and author of the study, a direct link was found between ultra-processed foods overall. Among these 32 health problems, mortality, cancer, mental disorders, respiratory, cardiovascular and stomach problems were also found along with metabolic problems.
They said the findings call for urgent research and public health initiatives to improve people’s health by reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods.
Cheap, quick-to-prepare, frozen and packaged foods are what 60 percent of Americans eat, and past research has linked them to problems like cancer or mental retardation.
However, the latest research published in the British Medical Journal is a review of 45 scientific reports (including data from nearly 10 million patients and volunteers) published in the last three years.
The classification of studies included in this review was based on the strength of the results obtained.
In the most convincing studies, researchers found that consumption of ultra-processed foods increased the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 50 percent, mental illness or anxiety by 48 to 53 percent, and type 2 diabetes by 12 percent. A hundred percent increase was observed.
